In our country, during the 50, departmental stores, commercial premises, television, cinema and large companies (mainly Americans), They adopted Santa Claus as their spokesman during the Christmas holidaysbut, few were the social classes that could access those products and commercial spaces. This caused several Mexican conservative sectors to see in this character a tradition imposed by an economic model and a predominant foreign culture: the American.
Leaving behind the days when nationalism had become the livelihood of post revolutionaries governmentsnew economic models transformed the country, mainly after World War II. Thus, the well -known Mexican miracle generated cultural changes after the rise in rates and the decrease in food poverty; So also for the creation of new national companies and a protectionist policy that they saw in the American model, a good example to follow. In that way, Santa Claus became one of the most famous characters of the Christmas season.
With the arrival of Santa Claus, several conservative groups defended the tradition the three Magi who was rooted for centuries in Mexican culture.Casasola Archive | National Photo Library | INAH
What was Santa Claus in the middle of the twentieth century?
In 1931 a famous cooling company commissioned To the cartoonist Thomas Nast an illustration of Santa Claus. But they did not imagine that they would change the image of this character worldwide forever. From that moment on, Santa Claus is the mature or old man, with a beard and white hair, wearing a red suit with white auctions, belt and black boots and matching hat with the suit. However, this character has been represented in different ways, mainly before its globalization in the twentieth century.
When it was the old man rescued by the Nordic oral tradition, he was represented with a Bishop tunic and a hunter skin on top, different from when it was believed that he used a green robe and crosses. For its part, Tradition The Catholic shows it, in Byzantine art, as to a Greek bishop using the traditional Phelonion and ONHOHORION.
Currently, in Mexico the happiness of children during the holidays are disputed by three main figures: Santa Claus, the Magi and the Child Jesus. To the north, the figure of the old good -natured and generous is more popular among childhoods, while the West the Child Jesus takes the advantage. The Magi, meanwhile, are the most popular characters in the capital of the country, where they include with Santa Claus during the traditional verbena, in which thousands come to take the traditional family photo in sets better and better armed and conditioned for this moment.